Tony Pacitti - My Best Friend is a Wookie: One Boys Journey to Find His Place in the Galaxy

MY BEST
FRIEND IS A
WOOKIEE

A Memoir

ONE BOYS JOURNEY
TO FIND HIS PLACE
IN THE GALAXY

TONY PACITTI

Copyright 2010 by Tony Pacitti
All rights reserved.
This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher; exceptions are made for brief excerpts used in published reviews.

Published by Adams Media,
a division of F+W Media, Inc.
57 Littlefield Street,
Avon, MA 02322. U.S.A.
www.adamsmedia.com

ISBN 10: 1-4405-0583-7
ISBN 13: 978-1-4405-0583-6
eISBN 10: 1-4405-0860-7
eISBN 13: 978-1-4405-0860-8

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This book has not been endorsed, approved, licensed by, and is in no way affiliated with George Lucas or Lucas-film, Ltd. The content contained herein is solely created by the author. Star Wars and related properties are registered trademarks of Lucasfilm, Ltd. All rights reserved.

The excerpt on pages 199200 is from the article It Will Be a Day Long Remembered... by Tony Pacitti. Originally published on May 5, 2005 in Volume 51, Issue 27, of the UMass Dartmouth Torch. Copyright 2005 by UMass Dartmouth Torch. Used by permission.

PRAISE FOR MY BEST FRIEND IS A WOOKIEE: A MEMOIR

I know Im not the first person to ponder why Star Wars was such a touchstone in many peoples lives. But I think what George Lucas did in creating a used universe was make the fantastic and unimaginable accessible and relatable.

What Tony Pacitti has done with this book is kind of the same thing. In recounting his personal life journey and love affair with this not-always-loved film series, I believe he has found a commonality that we can all relate to. He has made the geeky accessible. For whom among us has not felt like an outsider at one time or another, or known the bliss and pain of falling in and out of love, or of going down paths in our life we knew we should not have?

This book will speak to many more people than Tony may realize because like Star Wars, it is an experience that has been shared by millions.

Kevin Rubio, Writer/Director of TROOPS

Tony Pacittis My Best Friend Is a Wookiee is a hyperdrive tour through Star Wars fandom thats more fun than shooting womp rats in Beggars Canyon. But its also a comical, tender, no-punches-pulled coming-of-age memoir. We see a painfully shy kid slowly trying out the Jedi-like powers of adulthood and using the trans-formative Force (and forces) of the Star Wars universe to get him there. A heartbreaking work of staggering geekiness.

Ethan Gilsdorf, Author of Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks: An Epic Quest for Reality Among Role Players, Online Gamers, and Other Dwellers of Imaginary Realms

Tonys journey starts in the safe haven of a childhood with the secret knowledge that The Empire Strikes Back is the greatest movie of all time, to a middle-school experience with the Special Editions, learning about midi-chlorians in high school, and finally reacting to the love of new, younger fans as an adult. Through bitter tears and explosive accomplishments, Tony reconnects us all with our youth in an intimate and powerful way. He uses hilarious language thats rich in nerd-minutiae with references firing off like Death Star quad-turbo-laser-cannons. But just like the drama of a favorite fantasy story settling into its place of ultimate importance in our own lives, this story is real and at times painful. When its all said and done, we, the readers, find ourselves much like Chewbacca himself standing restrained next to the heartbroken who says, I love you to a movie series. And, of course, the inevitable reply will come: I know.

Scott Hinze, Host, Co-Creator of Fanboy Radio

My Best Friend Is a Wookiee is the candid story of Tonys love affair with George Lucass space opera. The movies were escape and consolation for a bullied, lonely kid in a new neighborhood; they helped him find companionship with other fans, inspired his creativity, and gave him something to cling to during the turbulence of puberty and junior high.

Tonys experiences arent sugarcoated. He shows us that real-world rebels are often deadbeat stoners; that sticking to your own beliefs can make you a loner; and that normal teenagers are neither pure-hearted heroes nor dark-side villains. Bullies can become friends, and nice guys can break hearts. But Tonys closing words carry a sense of generosity and the start of wisdom, and its clear that Star Wars helped him get there.

Will Brooker, Director of Research in Film and Television, Kingston University; Author of Using the Force: Creativity, Community and Star Wars Fans

To Mom and Dad.

This is all your fault.... I mean that in a good way.

Authors Note: The situations and characters in this book are all based off my memory of actual events. In some cases, names and traits have been changed and composite characters have been created. Otherwise this is my life, as I recall it, as a fanboy.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER 3 QUEEF AND ME, OR HOW I LEARNED
TO START WORRYING AND LOVE STAR WARS

CHAPTER 12 BETWEEN HEARTBREAK AND
EPISODE II THERE IS AW KWARD TEENAGE ROMANCE

PROLOGUE

In the summer of 2008 I was in the final stages of recovering from the Star Wars prequels. Over the years I had become one of those curmudgeonly, old fanboys who sat at his computer in his underpants raving like a madman whenever he heard news about a Star Wars spinoff or new DVD edition. Id yell at these things the way your grandfather yells about how loud your music is or how much better life was before snowplows. For me, there had only ever been the three original Star Wars films, but for a while they seemed to be long gone. My memory of them was overshadowed by Episode I, II, and III and George Lucass commitment to reimagining the movies I grew up with by way of digital wizardry.

Meanwhile, the films that had filled me with so much wonder, hope, and creative inspiration as a boy, the movies that had comforted me when I felt so afraid of trying to be the person I wanted to be, were still out there. But I had become so blinded by my disappointment that that special kind of cinematic lightning hadnt struck twice, I had been unable to see that.

Gradually I was able to make peace with my hatred of the prequels and move on. Old wounds were healing and the scars werent nearly as bad as I had expected. So imagine my surprise when, seemingly out of the blue, a new Star Wars movie was set to drop out of hyperspace into a theater near me.